Taking the Journey to The Sacred You…

I believe an inner calling comes to each of us in subtle ways and the subtlety of that calling becomes the song of our heart. Our job, should we desire to find our greatest potential, is to learn how to listen.

When our lives are filled with the busyness of things we have to do, and when it goes on for days on end, we may forget that we have created it all by the choices we’ve made.

Abraham-Hicks shared at a recent conference that as human beings we always have choice, our lives are based in freedom – even the freedom to choose bondage.

Why would anyone choose bondage?

Then I remembered when my life felt as if it were running on autopilot and I was living in reaction to life just trying to keep up. Somehow my life became living in response to all the things that I had created including my long list of to-dos, my family, the bills, our home, my work, and all of the other choices in my life… at some point I had begun to believe that I was stuck and the momentum of “stuckness” had been building for some time.

In my experience the still small voice began to get louder and louder. Some can hear it in the beginning and respond by changing and realigning their lives, while others try to ignore the symptoms and push on thinking that things will change for the better someday in the future. Many, those who choose to ignore their own well being, experience less than subtle manifestations of that inner voice and guidance so that it has no choice but to escalate to a louder awareness. This can result in physical messages like a lack of enthusiasm either at work or at home, low energy or physical pain and/or sickness.

In retrospect I had known deep down for some time that I couldn’t go on living in this way but the outward manifestation seemed to be working and my drive towards what I thought was success overrode my attention to the intuitive voice that was trying to guide me in another direction.

What I have learned from the many people I’ve worked with over the years is that the sense of off-ness is a message from your soul calling you to shift something in order to move forward with greater ease.

Our ability to tune in and listen to your intuitive guidance is called intuitive intelligence and it is the only way to awaken to the wholeness that is potentially you. There is an ever-expanding intelligence of “mind” when you allow yourself to choose the life path that is infinitely more fulfilling.

Words like mind-body connection have implied that thought is directly connected to our physical well-being. In other words, our thoughts impact the health and well-being of our bodies. It has been a subject of scientific study for years and we have found that our thoughts directly and cumulatively impact our body’s health, ability to heal and physical potential. But there is even more that we are learning.

We now know that what we think of others also impacts well-being and based on the vibrational level of our thoughts and intensions, the affect will be positive (bringing us closer) or negative (creating the sense of separation).

From the experiential work with horses and our newest studies of leadership we are finding the effects of heart-based intention over goal orientation. The work of both Linda Kohanov in her newest book The Power of the Herd and Frederic Pignon and Magali Delgado, who have dedicated their lives to the mastery of self alignment and co-creation with stallions, have most recently offered profound insight towards an even greater understanding in how to become a great leader that others want to follow.

Our intention speaks volumes of involuntary, non-verbal communication and those who are around us are the recipients of that information all the time.

Through scientific studies at Heartmath Institute we have found more about the heart’s coherence with electromagnetometers (EMA) leading to the factual proof of non-verbal energy that emits from our bodies all the time. The horses have also clearly responded to dissonance by turning away from humans in those circumstances where previously they would choose to stay close. This not only verified the natural response of discomfort, but possibly even more importantly, it pointed out the natural instinct and desire for cohesion and alignment within a coherent group.

If we choose to live with incoherence between our own mind and heart we are in essence choosing to live with vibrational dissonance within our bodies. In effect we are stepping away from our own alignment and in so doing we will eventually deplete our resources and fail. The simplicity of our system is astounding and the potential for human expansion is infinite.

What if this is just another tip of the iceberg?

What if our bodies could actually help us to tap into infinite intelligence through our own intuitive intelligence?

Is it possible that our bodies are trying to provide us with necessary information? What if that information offers us the keys to life expansion and ultimate joy?

What if we find a connection to greater wisdom through learning how to listen and align with our intuitive intelligence as leaders of others and in our own lives? It would mean that we could open to our dreams once again and with that, anything is possible!

I have recently started the Course in Miracles study again and am finding a new awareness and comfort as these first lessons unfold.

Marianne Williamson’s says in her reflections on a Course in Miracles, “There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.”

Hmmm, “There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking”… and it occurred to me that there are so many ways we do that shrinky thing – even if we are far from being a shrinky person.

In the past when I have opened to a new direction I’ve experienced times of fear (is this the right thing), doubt (can I actually do this, I don’t understand it all yet), excitement (I love the idea and I can feel my heart calling me in this direction), anticipation (I can almost feel a life for myself that is joyous and overflowing with possibility)… But…

Do I close my eyes and jump?

I can remember some of the conflicting feelings I have had when contemplating a new path. Stepping out towards the unknown can feel pretty scary, triggering fear and the desire to find comfort in what’s known.

Some of my most powerful leaps in learning have come from stepping out of my comfort zone but my deepest and greatest growth comes from the peace of inner knowing found when I am in alignment with my heart and soul.

Now that I have learned how to tune in to the Sacred part of me, change doesn’t feel as much like a risk anymore. If there is a risk it is in doing nothing and staying the same because I am missing the inspiration that is calling to me.

We don’t have all the answers when we are reaching for more in our lives; we wouldn’t be reaching if we did… and reaching is how we grow.

This is what we came here to do – we came here to learn and grow and enjoy our lives in the process.

The heart is always guiding us to take the steps forward along our journey, we just need to learn how to tune into that heart-aligned inspiration.

Marianne concludes: “And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

In an article I recently read about transitions in life, they said that sometimes a part of us must die before another part can come to life. During those transitions we may have faced times when we have had to say good-bye to something in order to grow.

I can remember times in my life that I had to say good-bye or change things that felt painful to me. I find that my memories have softened with time but when transition meets resistance, our experience can be frustrating and very confusing.

In an article I recently read about transitions in life, they said that sometimes a part of us must die before another part can come to life. During those transitions we may have faced times when we have had to say good-bye to something in order to grow.

I can remember times in my life that I had to say good-bye or change things that felt painful to me. I find that my memories have softened with time but when transition meets resistance, our experience can be frustrating and very confusing.Continue Reading »

The effective use of personal energy is something we are never taught when we are growing up, yet it can make all the difference both in our personal success as well as the business success in our life.

Emily, during a recent retreat at Epona Ridge, had an opportunity to work with Cierba who is the beautiful lead mare in our herd. Emily wanted to enjoy her life more and felt that if she could understand why she was running into so many brick walls, both in communication at work and at home with her husband, that she could make things better.

She said she has a highly demanding career and a manager that doesn’t seem to respect her ideas or enthusiasm for her job. In fact it is quite the opposite, she said she feels like she is almost ignored and it was getting more irritating by the day – to the point where she was considering quitting her job.

Emily choose to work with Cierba and walked straight up to her but got an unexpected response. She was pushed out-of-the-way as Cierba rudely walked past.

Emily was not new to horses but this kind of connection/communication/learning was different from anything she had experienced before.

All of her natural training techniques she had known were clearly not working. Emily expected Cierba to respond in a certain way. What she was learning was that horses, given a mutually respectful environment, try to communicate in a two-way conversation. These horses were clearly not “trained to obey”. They were making their own choices, even the choice to be present or not.

Horses provide living biofeedback for us if we are clever enough to see it. In any given situation that we present, the horses respond with the energy appropriate to the presenter. All of this is done without the human ego and emotion since the horses offer a clear energy of reflection.

Emily thought about what her approaching energy might have felt like to Cierba, how even though she thought she was friendly in her approach, she came to her with expectations and in the process she stepped over the signs of Cierba’s boundaries giving Cierba no choice but to move away.

“Oh this is so much like work’, she said out loud. Cierba was twenty feet away from Emily at this point and she just stood there. Emily took a deep cleansing breath. She was thinking about her work environment and how she was getting more and more intolerant. She recalled a recent episode at work where she tried to explain to her boss about something that they were doing and how it wasn’t working. Her boss, like Cierba, dismissed Emily with her energy. Emily, reflecting on some of the lessons she had been learning in the retreat, thought about where her vibration was. She felt the energy of starting off with what was wrong, what wasn’t working and began to understand how that might create bigger boundaries to be raised. Creating that vibration, no matter how enthusiastic you may be about the solution, can close doors.

When Emily approached Cierba with what wasn’t working, she got more of the same response without even realizing how her vibration effected everything. It was a mirror of her work environment all right, but the message was about her own energy.

The most interesting thing happened, after a few moments I noticed Cierba licking a chewing, a sign I always look for because I know it means that something significant has just happened or has been discovered.

Emily shared what she had thought. She said she wondered about how she might change her energy in a way that would be more easily heard and even appreciated. This was the underlying desire to the discomfort she was experiencing. She wanted to be valued for her ideas and effort to help improve the company.

Just as Emily was becoming aware of the deeper message, she shifted from a forward stance to a more relaxed and invitational posture. Cierba softened as well and began to approach Emily from across the arena.

Cierba’s eyes were large and inquisitive this time and her ears were forward and attentive to Emily. She stopped within a foot of her and Cierba dropped her head – Emily reached out and gently touched her.

The vibration in the entire arena seemed to shift.

Learning how to effectively modulate our own non-verbal communication (vibration) helps us find the keys to connecting with mutual awareness and respect, no matter who we are with or where we are in our life process.

Learn more about your personal vibration and the non-verbal energy you are emitting all the time. Gain skills to effectively modulate energy in relationships at home and at work in our upcoming retreat: Your Signature Vibration in March, 2014

Yesterday I took my 95-year-old mom back home to wait for my 95-year-old dad who recently had a partial hip replacement from falling and breaking it just before Christmas this year.

There has been an unusual amount of injury and healing around me as of late. Much of that has been with my immediate family of humans and animals. That part just doesn’t seem relevant in the story other than contrast and awareness of how appreciative I am for life.

When I am least expecting, there I find a powerful gift from the Universe.

It was like having the mom I had when I was young… only this time I could give her a piece of the loving sweetness and care she had given me all those years ago. There are so many facets in the experience that held a deep awareness and two are most prevalent at the moment. One was in the awareness of my vibration and my wish for the experience and the other was a lesson of allowing and faith.

We set up a cozy room where it was easy for mom to maneuver with a walker. Izzy and Gus, our Goldendoodles, daily took turns bringing her their toys and getting a sweet pet in return. Mom is mostly blind in one eye, advanced macular degeneration in the other but her spirit is strong and like her mother before her, she is fierce with determination which my dad calls “stubborn” as he smiles…

She wanted to go home and couldn’t wait three more days until my dad got out of rehab so we were faced with a difficult decision. She had not been alone for over 35 years, with her vision severely impaired and using a walker, my dad did most everything for her. One could say overbearing but he would say it was always out of love. Never-the-less she wanted to go home by herself, no more caregivers – just her peace and quiet. The last three weeks of the injury, surgery, and constant discussion was coming to a close, dad was healing and mom wanted to do the same.

The only thing was that we didn’t want to let her go, we were afraid for her safety though we had taken every precaution we could. She was determined and her spirit begged for independence.

My dad remembers when she thought she could still drive the golf cart and went off on her own. That didn’t end well but she didn’t know until she tried.

Herein lies the lesson and it has to do with allowing others to find their own boundaries, being there with loving support when asked versus trying to control, preserving dignity and spirit, and having faith while empowering those we love as best we can… young and old.

I made a decision a long time ago that I wanted to create a life that made a difference, one that made my heart sing, and inspired me to reach for more.

Now more than ever I have found that joy is directly created from the frequency of emotion I have indulged through my thought.

So what do you do when you run into a thought about the future, a current glaring situation or something in your past that brings you discomfort?

It requires selective sifting.

If I am going to attract the things I want to have in my life it requires that I am aware of the way I am feeling/thinking all of the time, especially in those moments when my focus drifts into something discomforting instead of helpful.

Selective sifting… the things we choose to talk about, think about, television shows, emails, books, clients, friends, family, the food we eat and the rest we give ourselves… all of of these are components of your life and have a cumulative effect.

We are always building momentum – but here’s the key, it is a choice as to which direction, helpful or discomforting, that your momentum is gaining. If you want to know which direction at any given time you can easily tell by how you feel. How you feel is a direct reflection of your thoughts and an indicator of what you will be manifesting in your life. Here is what I am learning:

Practice selectively sifting out the things and thoughts that create discomfort in your past, present or future.Be diligent in your focus towards the things that you appreciate and spend time every day expanding that focus.

Surround yourself with those with the same intent so that you continue to build momentum that expands your beautiful world in the now!